According to the latest predictions, the managed services market is expected to reach $594.8 Billion in 2031, growing at a CAGR of 11.3% (2022-2031).
It’s an exciting time to own an MSP business and build a trusted name in the industry. In such a competitive market though, your company will also need to shine in the online space, where going unnoticed often means not existing.
This is why your MSP needs a Digital Marketing Strategy.
First things first – before you start building your marketing strategy, focus on who you are. The SWOT analysis is a simple but very useful tool to approach this task and analyze where you are.
Here are some of the key marketing initiatives your MSP should focus on:
Now, let’s take a deep dive into your MSP marketing strategy.
What you can’t measure, you can’t improve
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
John Wanamaker
John Wanamaker was considered a “pioneer in marketing.” Let me add, he also anticipated many of the headaches that we as marketers and business owners, still face today in relation to modern attribution and return on investment.
It was the 1800s, and it was a long time ago. But trust me when I say that this phrase is still relevant today. Many organizations and marketing departments still struggle to identify underperforming channels and find ways to make their marketing machine more efficient.
There is no secret recipe, especially now with the level of entropy in the complex, hyper-connected world we live in.
However, whether your budget is big or small, there is one rule to follow in order to maximize your marketing spend.
Ensure you put a strong effort into creating a tailored measurement model for your marketing activities.
I’ll tell you more – make data analysis a habit in your company. It will help you to gain a holistic view of your business, and set measurable MSP KPIs for your marketing initiatives. As a result, you can make data-driven decisions to maximize your investment.
Leverage web analytics tools to track your traffic, understand your audience and monitor your conversion rates.
Implementing web analytics is simple. The data you will gain is monumental in providing you meaningful insights on your users, their behavior and how to optimize your website to improve your lead generation pipeline. There are so many of these tools nowadays and some of them are free – check out this article to find some of the best web analytics tools.
Write your marketing strategy down
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”
Benjamin Franklin
Having a plan is essential to the success of your MSP marketing initiatives.
You can keep it simple, but laying down the foundation of your marketing strategy is so important. It will be key to developing goals, identifying deliverables and measuring results along the way.
Start with a simple plan that enables you to be active on all channels in the marketing funnel. Find some examples below:
- Make sure you website is SEO friendly
- Start a blog and post regularly
- Activate a paid search campaign
- Use Display Remarketing to re-engage your audience
- Build your presence on social media
- Put in place an email marketing strategy
Find more details in this blog post about how to build your MSP marketing.
The attention economy and your MSP Marketing strategy
“In 2004, we measured the average attention on a screen to be 2½ minutes. Some years later, we found attention spans to be about 75 seconds. Now we find people can only pay attention to one screen for an average of 47 seconds. In fact, our research shows it takes 25 minutes, 26 seconds, before we go back to the original working sphere or project,”
Dr. Gloria Mark for The CNN Health
The meaning of this is about messaging and how to use the few seconds you have to gain the attention and focus of your audience and ultimately achieve the goal of your marketing strategy.
First, get the attention of your audience. This will then lead to consideration, which can then lead to purchase.
Your message should be engaging, original and unique so that you can stand out from the competition and capture attention in an easily distracted world. To achieve this you need to study your audience. Get to know them, identify their needs, and learn about their tastes and the problems you can solve for them.
This will allow you to highlight the benefits of your product and services and let your audience know how you can help them.
In your marketing approach, understand what sets you apart and makes your digital presence unique. Think about your brand, your message, and your audience and how they landmark your company’s reputation online and offline.
Content is the key way to engage your audience
“Content is King”
Bill Gates
In January 1996, Bill Gates wrote an essay titled “Content is King”, which was published on the Microsoft website.
Since then, content has become increasingly central in every marketing strategy. It’s a way to engage with a target audience, interact with existing customers and prospects, and create strong and compelling storytelling around brands.
Content is a valuable asset of your brand communication and gets people engaged. Focus on being consistent and relevant and make sure to share on each channel using the right tone of voice.
For your blog create a mix of serious, fun and relatable content to offer both sides of your brand identity and attract a wider audience. This will ultimately build your brand awareness, one piece of content at a time.
To summarize, leverage blog posts, webinars, podcasts, explainer videos, case studies, and whitepapers to create a strong presence amongst your target audience.
Email is a key component in your marketing strategy
“Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches – at scale.”
David Newman
Last, but not least, email marketing represents a valuable channel to communicate to your customer base and prospects in a way that other channels can’t.
By sending regular emails you have the ability to update your customers regularly. Use email to talk about your latest features, send personal event invitations, offer exclusive discounts, and reward customers for their loyalty.
Email us your chance to get personal and insightful with your audience. It allows you to show the many aspects of your product in a deeper and compelling way.
Although they might seem old fashioned because they are one of the oldest digital marketing tools, emails are still “alive and kicking.” Email plays a very important role in your MSP marketing strategy.
To summarize your MSP Marketing Strategy
Marketing is an ongoing challenge for both small business owners and marketers.
There is no quick fix or magic formula or template you can download to develop a meaningful MSP marketing strategy. It’ll take ongoing work and refinement, time, investment, and effort.
To wrap up, here are the 5 things you can do when developing your MSP marketing strategy:
- Track and measure your efforts.
- Write down your plan, even if it isn’t very detailed.
- Remember you’re dealing with short attention spans and a distracted economy.
- Content is the key driver of your marketing strategy.
- Email is not dead and it’s a way to get personal with your customers and prospects.
Further reading:
